


It Won't Work (It Might Work)

by Lumeleo



Series: His Own, His Always [2]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alpha Akutsu Jin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Omega Dan Taichi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 20:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17649041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumeleo/pseuds/Lumeleo
Summary: Akutsu's doing his best to create the sort of life Taichi deserves. Luckily, he seems to have a knack for finding people who have horrible judgment and think he's not an utterly terrible person.





	It Won't Work (It Might Work)

Trying to find a job, Akutsu mused, was absolutely horrible. Of course, he was fully aware of this, which was why he’d settled for the first thing he could get that paid enough to get him out of his mother’s place. Now, however, that was not going to be enough, and he was feeling every bit of the suffering and agony that came with trying to find the next step up. It probably would have been easier if his resume had been longer than his rap sheet, but there was nothing he could do about that now, so hunting down every last lead was all he could do.

The only field where his background might have helped was the one he was not going to consider. He might not have been a saint, but Taichi was the next best thing, and no matter how desperate he got Akutsu refused to even consider supporting Taichi with dirty money.

After another day of nothing but failure, he stopped by the local corner store on his way home. Taichi was coming over for the weekend, and would no doubt like some snacks. That, at least, he could provide, even if he was otherwise making a fucking mess of taking care of his mate.

“Ah, Akutsu-kun!” One of the store owners smiled at seeing him. He supposed he was enough of a regular to get recognized, and in any case the elderly couple running the place were way too friendly for their own good. Kind of reminded him of Taichi in that way, which obviously had nothing to do with his visits to the store. It was just close by, that was all. “What can we do for you today?”

“Just picking up snacks.” He made a beeline for the correct shelf, spending a moment trying to remember which flavor of chips Taichi preferred. In the end, he bought a bag of each of his top candidates. He’d just eat the other bag himself if Taichi wasn’t interested.

“Right! Can we get you anything else?” The alpha of the couple smiled at him from behind the counter. “Your usual beer? Cigarettes?”

Akutsu paused. His fingers were twitching at the mere idea of cigarettes, longing for just one, never mind a full package. At the same time… “Not this time.” He put the bags of chips on the counter. “Just these.”

“Well, I’ll say!” She smiled, quickly scanning his purchases. “Are you actually Akutsu-kun, or some imposter?”

“Don’t even start.” Akutsu snorted as he paid. “I’ve got a pup on the way. My job pays barely enough for me, never mind a family, so I’ve got to save up money somewhere until I find something better.” Also, it would probably be all around healthier for both Taichi and the baby if he could at least cut down on smoking. He wasn’t sure why he was opening up even this much, really, but decided to blame it on the vague resemblance to Taichi. These two always smiled at him, even though they had to see he was bad news, and Taichi and Kawamura had rather ruined him when it came to stupidly friendly people.

“Is that so.” He saw her glance over to her husband, who was working on the shelves, and the two exchanged a strange look. Then she looked back at Akutsu. “You know, we’ve been thinking of hiring someone to help around the shop. We’re not getting any younger, and there’s always carrying and lifting to be done. A fit young man such as yourself would have a much easier time of it than us.”

Akutsu lifted his eyebrows. It did sound like something he could do, and yet. “You don’t want to hire me.” He’d been told many times during his search that it would, in fact, be a miracle if anyone did. “I’ve got shit all experience, no education, and awful manners.”

“Now, it doesn’t take a degree to stock the shelves or run some deliveries. We can handle the customer side of things.” The omega half of the couple walked closer from where he’d been working. “What we do need is someone we can trust to get the job done and be reliable. An alpha who’s willing to give up his vices to take care of his family seems like a great candidate.”

“You’re giving me way too much fucking credit.” They didn’t even flinch at the swear, just kept smiling at him.

“Or maybe you’re not giving yourself enough.” Okay, definitely reminding him of Taichi now. “Can you start Monday?”

It was ridiculous, of course, and was only going to end in disaster, but it wasn’t like he could afford to say no. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

*

Honest work, Akutsu found, was not as bad as he had thought. It helped that this was very much the sort of thing he was good at. Hauling heavy things from one place to another wasn’t exactly a challenge, and it was at least more varied than his previous job cleaning at a rather dodgy restaurant. He knew it was dodgy, nobody else would’ve let him do the cleaning at a place that was supposed to sell something edible. It did irritate him at first, having so much of his time taken up by other people’s errands, but he figured the paycheck would make it worth the trouble.

That, and the way Taichi’s eyes shone when Akutsu told him he’d got a proper job. That was definitely a good thing.

The next step, he decided, was looking for a proper apartment. Taichi would have been all too happy to move in with him right away, because Taichi was an idiot, but Akutsu wanted something more decent before he let Taichi stay over more than weekends, never mind bringing in a baby. At least now he had a properly paying job so he could theoretically look for places a step or two above barely livable shithole.

Theoretically. In practice, it seemed finding a decent place that would accept him as a tenant was even more difficult than finding someone to hire him. At least employers didn’t have to worry about his delinquent ways ruining their place around the clock. Potential landlords, though, took one look at his appearance and didn’t wait to hear a word from him.

At least there was still time. Five months to go until the due date, and Taichi had barely begun to show. The sight of his mate’s belly growing with their pup was doing weird things to Akutsu’s heart, not that he would have admitted it. Not that Taichi needed to actually hear it.

He picked up the last deliveries of the day from the store and headed back out. Apparently enough of their regulars had gotten too old for grocery runs that it was feasible for the store to offer deliveries. And, this being a somewhat physical part of the job, it fell under Akutsu’s responsibilities. At first he’d thought he would scare the mostly elderly customers, but apparently they had all been told horrible lies about him, since they were all under the impression he was not, in fact, a terrible human being. This was obviously bullshit, and he didn’t exactly go out of his way to be more polite than usual, yet somehow he was constantly receiving smiles and comments on how well he was doing his job. It was almost like he’d entered some weird alternate reality where everyone was like Taichi.

It couldn’t be that he might be getting soft, of course. That wasn’t it at all. He was still just as scary and tough as ever, as evident in the way he’d so far scared off three potential shoplifters just by glaring at them. He knew how to recognize troublemakers, he’d been one often enough.

The latest customer was already familiar to him, for all that he hadn’t been working at the store that long. Kobayashi-san ordered groceries twice a week, always the same things, and Akutsu had to wonder how she hadn’t died out of sheer boredom decades ago. It seemed to be working for her, though, as she greeted him at the door as happily as ever.

“Ah, Akutsu-kun! I was wondering when you’d get here. Come in, come in!”

He followed her teetering steps inside, careful not to get tripped by the tiny dog that came around barking at him. He took the bags to her kitchen, setting them on the table where she could reach them easily. She didn’t seem like she could bend over easily, at her age, and Akutsu didn’t want to lose his job by causing one of the most regular customers to break her back.

“Here you go.” Akutsu grunted. “You want to check that we got everything?”

“Oh, no! I trust the Hanadas, they know my order so well! Ah, I don’t suppose you have the time to sit for a cup of tea?”

“Afraid not.” If he accepted all such offers, he’d have tea coming out his ears. “I’ve got a couple of more deliveries still, and I shouldn’t leave them waiting.” Especially since Taichi was coming over for the evening, and he didn’t want to get home any later than necessary.

“Of course, of course. You’re such a hardworking boy!” She cheerfully ignored Akutsu’s murmurs about how he wasn’t a boy, starting to unload her groceries. “Oh, that reminds me! Hanada-san said something about you looking for an apartment?”

“Ah, yeah.” He supposed it was utterly hopeless to expect his employers not to gossip about him, considering the two were apparently never quiet. At least they didn’t expect him to talk back, leaving him to brood in silence as he pleased. “My current place is a dump, can’t exactly ask my mate to nest there.” Taichi still deserved way better than him, but for now, he could at least try to be better.

“Oh, of course not! Now, see, my niece has this apartment not far from here, but she got a job offer elsewhere. Selling the place would just be too much trouble, so she’s looking for someone to rent it. It’s a lovely place, perfect for a new family! If you’d like, I can give you her number.”

“…Thanks.” He bit his tongue before he could point out nobody in their right mind would consider him an ideal tenant for a place that could be called lovely. Instead, he waited for her to scrawl out a number on a piece of paper and hand it over.

“I’ll tell her to expect your call. Just tell her I sent you, so she’ll know you’re the good boy who works for the Hanadas.” She reached up to pat his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll love the place, and your mate, too!”

Akutsu was still not sure what exactly was making all these elderly people think he was a decent person of some sort, but if the mass delusion could help him care for his family, he wasn’t going to go out of his way to prove them wrong.

*

“Oh, this is such a lovely place!” Yuuki clapped her hands together like an excited child, because she had no fucking idea how to act her age. “So much better than your last apartment! Are you sure you can afford it, though?”

“Well, yeah.” Akutsu rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t have signed the lease if I couldn’t. Still not sure why the fuck anyone would rent a place like this to me of all people, but apparently you’re not the only old hag who’s deluded about me.” As it had turned out, Kobayashi-san’s niece had been a rather matronly omega lady who was definitely older than Yuuki and had agreed to rent the apartment on the condition that she could make sure his mate approved of the place. As expected, Taichi had utterly charmed her, and Taichi in turn had been very happy with the place. Akutsu had tuned out by the time their conversation had turned from the apartment to pregnancy, but the end result had been a signed lease and a happy Taichi, which was all he cared about anyway.

“Or maybe I’m not the only one who can see the true you under all that sulking.” Yuuki chuckled, walking further into the apartment. “It’s kind of empty in here, don’t you think?”

“No shit.” Of course it was empty. They’d only moved Akutsu’s things and what little of Taichi’s belongings had slowly migrated into his apartment over time, and that was nowhere near enough to fill the larger apartment. Even once Taichi got the rest of his things moved in, they’d still have space to fill. Which was a good thing, he supposed, seeing how they were expecting a rather significant addition. “It’ll get full eventually.”

“Oh, I’m sure. But it’s so wonderful that you’ll finally be building your own home with Taichi-kun!” Yuuki smiled, then continued her nosy way through the apartment. She glanced into the bedroom, making a somewhat approving sound at the fact he’d actually made the bed, then opened the next room. There, she blinked, looking surprised. “Why’s this room empty?”

“Haven’t got much to put in there yet.” Akutsu smirked. “Apparently my ratty old couch and Taichi’s high school desk aren’t good enough for a nursery.”

Yuuki gave an audible gasp and spun to stare at him. “Nursery?” Her voice was rising in pitch at a rather alarming rate. “You’re expecting?”

“Yeah.” And now, he couldn’t help but grin. “Taichi’s been about ready to kill me for not telling you earlier, just so you know. And don’t think I don’t fucking know about your weekly gossip calls. But, yeah, Taichi got himself trapped for real, and I’m not good enough to let him go, so I guess we’re figuring out this family thing.”

Yuuki blinked, then suddenly teared up. Well, shit. This was not what he’d hoped for. “Oh, Jin.” The next moment he was pulled into a hug, which was even more uncomfortable. “You’re going to be a wonderful father.”

“I fucking doubt that, but can’t really do any worse than my bastard of a sire.” He shrugged. “Taichi seems to think I’ll do fine, though, and he’s the only one whose opinion matters, so it’s going to happen.”

“Oh, hush. If you love your pup even half as much as you love Taichi-kun, they’re going to be the most loved baby in the world.” Yuuki drew back with a teary grin, then gasped again. “Oh my goodness. This means I’m going to be a grandmother!”

“That’s how it works, yeah.” Akutsu rolled his eyes. “Now. You going to help me get some food going? Taichi’s going to be here soon with some more of his stuff and he’s probably going to be starving.”

He was never going to understand why this small handful of people insisted on thinking he was a good man with redeemable qualities, but he figured he might as well try to prove the rest of the world wrong.


End file.
